Tonnage. It’s hardly a glamorous word that conjures up images of long white sandy beaches or breathtaking cityscapes.
It doesn’t say “romantic meal for two sailing off into the sunset” or “family fun exploring the rainforests of Malaysia”. No, it means big, heavy, and industrial. Why then, does the cruise industry continue to fill brochures with jargon?
So that got me thinking. What other cruising lingo are we guilty of using that to first time cruisers especially has no meaning whatsoever. Regular cruise go-ers are familiar with the terms, they can speak the vernacular of cruise: “are you staying in an inside cabin on the Lautrec deck, darling?” or “I’ll see you by the Bridge after the muster drill”.
Although it’s a little confusing at first, it’s actually pretty easy once you decipher it. But what a way to turn off would-be cruisers! They open a brochure and are met with a barrage of confusing deck plans with dozens of seemingly meaningless words.
In actual fact, it’s not that confusing, but people don’t appreciate feeling ignorant at the first hurdle. When it comes to the cabin grades, the strange letter/number combos are really for the benefit of the cruise line, for them to easily identify how particular cabin grades may alter slightly.
The real issue is that onboard a cruise ship, customers actually have more choice than in a standard hotel. When you book into a hotel, you don’t get the floor plans of the building to identify which room you’d like to stay in. You book, you check-in and you’re issued with a key. On-board a cruise, service levels exceed almost everyone’s expectations – your choices are increased and the power is handed back to the customer.
So how far do we go to simplify the experience? I don’t believe we should be calling cabins, rooms. Nor do I think we should dumb down cruising and re-name everything to suit first-timers.
Port is still port, starboard still starboard. But a little more explanation up front, explaining what an inside cabin really is for example, can help overcome the feelings of a first-timer thinking that a cruise isn’t right for them because the whole thing looks a bit too much like hard work.
We don’t want to patronise people or oversimplify things, we should just be giving them clear facts up front so they know exactly what they’re getting.
Sometimes, Virgin Holidays Cruises is a little guilty of assuming people know the lingo, we’re looking into this but in the meantime we’ve created a handy cruise jargon buster in case you get stuck.
And you don’t have to worry about a thing when you call us. Our cruise specialists are great, and never assume people have an extensive knowledge of cruises.
It would be great to get your feedback. What do you love about cruise language, and what could you really do without?
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